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Practical Performance and Load Testing

Practical Performance and Load Testing
This book is 100% completeLast updated on 2026-10-27
Zhimin Zhan

Load testing is often neglected in software development because it is expensive, performed too late, and difficult to apply to dynamic websites. As a result, we continue to see major websites crash under heavy traffic. This book introduces a practical approach I call Continuous Performance and Load Testing—an easy, affordable, and free way to integrate performance and load testing into everyday software development.

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About

About

About the Book

Practical Continuous Performance and Load Testing

Load testing is often neglected in software development, with disastrous consequences. Every year, we hear about websites crashing on launch day because they cannot handle the expected traffic. As more users access web applications across different devices, from anywhere and at any time, the demand for performance and scalability continues to grow.

Although the importance of load testing is widely recognised, it remains poorly integrated into everyday software development. Many teams still struggle with expensive tools, inadequate skills, fragile test scripts, and testing that happens too late to prevent costly performance problems.

This book presents a practical approach to Continuous Performance and Load Testing, helping software teams overcome these challenges and integrate performance testing into their development and DevOps processes.

You will learn how to:

  • Load-test modern web applications. Test dynamic websites, including applications that use AJAX, without unnecessary complexity.
  • Use free and open-source tools. Build your load-testing solution with popular, open-source frameworks and scripts. Avoid vendor lock-in and make load testing accessible to projects of all sizes.
  • Get started quickly. Set up and run your first load tests within a day.
  • Integrate testing into DevOps. Run performance and load tests continuously to detect bottlenecks and capacity issues early, before they become production incidents.
  • Maintain tests as applications evolve. Adopt a practical approach to keeping load-test scripts maintainable alongside application changes.

Load testing should not be an expensive, specialised activity reserved for the final stages of a project. By making it continuous, practical, and accessible, software teams can identify performance problems earlier and deliver more reliable web applications.

Here are the common challenges that software projects are now facing in load testing:

  • Load testing tools are expensive
  • Unable to load-test dynamic websites (using AJAX)
  • Load testing is conducted rarely, and often too late
  • Lack of skills in load testing
  • Fragile load test scripts, unable to maintain them along with application changes 

This book will show you a practical approach (Continuous Performance/Load Testing) to address the above.

  • Support modern websites. All operations, including AJAX, can be load-tested easily.
  • Free (as in freedom as well as free in ‘free beer'). The load test (and build) scripts are all in open-source and popular frameworks, with no vendor-locking. Load testing is no longer a luxury that only large software companies can afford.
  • Immediate Result. Set up and running can be done within one day!
  • Continuous Performance and Load Testing in a DevOps process. Detect performance or load issues early. 

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Automated Software TestingDevOps

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Author

About the Author

Zhimin Zhan

Zhimin Zhan is the founder and principal agile testing coach of AgileWay Pty Ltd, Australia. As an advisor and coach, he helps organisations implement test automation using Continuous Testing with open technologies, such as Selenium WebDriver / Appium. Zhimin is the creator of TestWise, the next-generation functional testing tool that supports functional test refactorings, and BuildWise, an international award-winning Continuous Testing Server. Zhimin is a frequent speaker and author of 14 books on software testing and programming. He shares his test automation and CI experience on Substack and Medium.

Contents

Table of Contents

Preface

  1. What makes this book unique?
  2. Who should read this book?
  3. How to read this book?
  4. Send me feedback

Introduction

  1. Performance Testing vs Load Testing
  2. Benefits of Load Testing for web apps
  3. Why effective load testing is more necessary than ever?
  4. Reality Check
  5. Why do most projects do load testing poorly?
  6. Load Testing Approaches
  7. Review

Practical Load Testing

  1. Load Testing Trends
  2. Success Factors
  3. Practical Load Testing
  4. Case Study: How will I load test Census Australia?
  5. Review

Protocol-based Performance and Load Testing

  1. How does Protocol-based testing works?
  2. Simple Performance/Load Testing Exercise
  3. Scripting with Mechanize
  4. Load testing with JMeter
  5. Handcrafted scripts vs GUI tools
  6. Review

Test Syntax Framework

  1. RSpec
  2. Avoid Gherkin
  3. Review

First Functional Performance Test

  1. Test Design
  2. Install Testing Tool
  3. New Performance Test Project
  4. Run the blank test
  5. Create test steps
  6. Add measurements
  7. Headless browser mode
  8. Compare performance testing results
  9. Measure AJAX operations
  10. Functional Test vs Functional Performance Test
  11. Review

Performance Test Plan

  1. Scope of work
  2. Testing execution approach
  3. Automation framework
  4. Scripting language
  5. Test Syntax framework
  6. Test Creation: Recording vs Handcrafting
  7. Automation Tools
  8. Measurements
  9. Test executions and Reporting
  10. Review

Continuous Performance Testing

  1. Why run performance tests in CT server
  2. Set up BuildWise Server
  3. Execute performance tests in a CT server
  4. Case Study - Performance Testing WhenWise’s Reset
  5. Review

Load Test Plan

  1. Load Testing Scenarios
  2. Determine the number of VUs required
  3. Generate Load
  4. Load Testing Metrics
  5. Define Success Criteria
  6. Parallel Execution in a CT server
  7. Execution Control
  8. Review

Continuous Load Testing

  1. Generate Load from the command line
  2. How does Continuous Load Testing work?
  3. Build Agents
  4. Set up Load Testing project
  5. Review

Custom Load Testing Execution

  1. Control which tests to run
  2. Prepare Execution
  3. A Quick Test Run with one Build Agent
  4. Control the Load
  5. Set Success Criteria
  6. Monitor Execution
  7. Case Study: Load Testing User Login
  8. Case Study: Mixed Scenarios

Identifying Flaws and Performance issues

  1. Functional Flaws
  2. Non-Functional
  3. Feedback Time is Critical
  4. Performance/Load Improvement Suggestions
  5. Review

Continuous Testing Lab

  1. Costing Factor
  2. Start Small, Start Today
  3. Reliable
  4. Ongoing Mainteance
  5. Optimize For Speed
  6. Review

Maintaining Load Test Scripts

  1. Reusable functions and Page Objects
  2. Test Refactoring
  3. Coding conventions
  4. AJAX in Load Tests
  5. Review

Best Practices

  1. Run a warm-up script first
  2. Using faster Selenium operations
  3. Speed up non-operational steps
  4. Avoid Conflicts
  5. Review

Appendix: TestWisely

  1. Test Scripts on Github
  2. Set up a CT Lab on TestWisely and Run Performance/Load Tests
  3. Performance Testing
  4. Load Testing
  5. How do Build Agents support different Apps?
  6. FAQ

Resources

  1. Books
  2. Tools
  3. Online Resource

References

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